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(NEW YORK) — Communities on the East and Gulf coasts of the U.S. could soon be preparing for a longer hurricane season as the formation of tropical cyclones shifts to earlier in the year, according to a new study.

Researchers who analyzed changes in the onset of Atlantic tropical cyclone activity from 1979 to 2020 found that the first named storms of the North Atlantic hurricane season have been occurring five days earlier every decade since 1979, according to a study published in Nature Communications on Tuesday.

Currently, the North Atlantic hurricane season runs annually from June 1 to November 30 — a definition that was established in 1965.

Last year marked seven consecutive seasons that the National Hurricane Center issued watches or warnings for the continental U.S. before the start of the season on June 1, which prompted the researchers to study the phenomenon further, Ryan Truchelut, chief meteorologist at Weather Tiger, a consulting and risk management firm, and author of the study, told ABC News.

“The concern here is that this is, you know, historically very unusual,” Truchelut said.

This trend could soon change the current definition of the North Atlantic hurricane season, and a panel at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is currently weighing whether to adjust the current season to start earlier, Truchelut said.

“I think that that’s going to be an important signal to coastal residents and people living well inland who are at risk from tropical storm-driven flooding events,” Truchelut said of the potential change in season.

In addition, the findings also suggest that the first named storm to make landfall in the U.S. occurred earlier by about two days per decade since 1900, according to the study.

In 2021, climate factors such as La Niña, above-normal sea surface temperatures earlier in the season and above-normal West African monsoon rainfall were the primary contributors to the early start and the above-average season. But springtime warming in the western Atlantic Ocean, which has also shown an increasing trend during the same period, could be linked to the earlier onset of named storms, the authors said.

Additional increases in ocean temperatures may exacerbate the exposure of populated landmasses to tropical cyclones by shifting the onset of their formation earlier, according to the study.

While it does not appear that the timing of the peak or end of hurricane season has changed, information about the earlier onset of hurricanes will be important for communities to properly assess necessary risk management measures as hurricanes continue to intensify as a result of global warming, Truchelut said.

“Hopefully it’ll help people be more prepared to respond to those watches and warnings, and respond and react if they receive an emergency flash flood warning,” Truchelut said of the research.

ABC News’ Melissa Griffin contributed to this report.

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(MEMPHIS, Tenn.) — Six people were shot outside a Memphis hospital early Tuesday and four of the victims remain in critical condition, police said.

The shooting was reported around 12:42 a.m. at Methodist North Hospital, Memphis police said.

Two victims were taken to Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital in critical condition, one of whom is now non-critical, while four were taken to Regional One Hospital. One of those taken to Regional One is also now out of critical condition, police said.

Three victims involved have been detained for allegedly possessing a stolen vehicle, police said.

All of the victims were reportedly shot by suspects in a black SUV, according to police. No arrests have been announced.

Methodist North Hospital said no hospital staffers were hurt during the gunfire.

“We appreciate the swift action from our employees to guide patients away … so our security team and Memphis Police Department could respond quickly,” hospital officials said in a statement. “We are working with local law enforcement who are continuing to investigate.”

ABC News’ Keith Harden contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — In an exclusive interview with Good Morning America, Amber Escudero-Kontostathis sits down to talk for the first time about being the sole survivor of a lightning strike near the White House earlier this month, on her 28th birthday, and her road to recovery.

“I don’t remember much of that day at all,” Escudero-Kontostathis told GMA in her first interview since the incident.

On Aug. 4, Escudero-Kontostathis, 28, was canvassing outside the White House for Threshold Giving, a nonprofit organization through the International Rescue Committee that helps refugees, when she and three others took cover underneath a tree at Lafayette Square after it began to rain.

Six bolts of lightning struck the group within half a second, killing three others, including 76-year-old James Mueller and 75-year-old Donna Mueller, a married couple celebrating their anniversary, and Brooks Lambertson, a 29-year-old Los Angeles man who was in D.C. for business.

Escudero-Kontostathis said the lightning struck her through the ground and traveled through her body, resulting in significant burns on her body.

“I don’t know why I survived,” she said. “I don’t feel good about being the only survivor, that’s for sure. I’m grateful, but I just don’t feel good about being the only one.”

She doesn’t recall much of her stay at the hospital, where she was placed in the Intensive Care Unit, but does remember the nurses trying to keep her calm and telling her things would be OK.

Escudero-Kontostathis praised the burn and ICU nurses for checking on her and providing constant care.

“You would hit the little things saying you were in pain and they’d be like ‘we’re coming,’ and they walk in and their name was always on the board,” she said. “I had more of a personal relationship and memory with the burn center nurses, but I’m excited to eventually get to meet the ICU nurses in person again now that I’m more conscious of that.”

She said her path to recovery has been frustrating both physically and mentally. “I forget that I can’t just get up and do stuff. I have to use a walker, for example,” she said.

“You wake up and you think that you can just get up and go and brush your teeth or get a cup of coffee yourself and I can’t, my whole left sides like pretty charred,” Escudero-Kontostathis said. “Mentally, also a little frustrated because I want to be working and doing things.”

Escudero, who’s the director of Threshold Giving’s canvassing team, said she enjoyed the work she did and that being unable to work while she recovers is one of the more painful parts of this experience.

“I get to help people find their inner activist and bridge them to the work they want to see in the world,” Escudero-Kontostathis said. “Not getting to do that every day is probably more painful than cleaning the burns, which is pretty painful.”

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(UVALDE, Texas) — During Monday night’s school board meeting, Uvalde citizens demanded financial transparency regarding the millions of dollars in grants announced last week aimed at strengthening school security before children return to the classroom this September.

“We just saw lump sum $100,000 here, $500,000 here,” one community member said during the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District meeting. “Now what I would like to see is further breakdown. OK, who is that money going to?”

The school board announced last week that it plans to spend more than $3.5 million on projects such as replacing locks, installing fences and hiring more counselors. The school district received grants from the state of Texas, the Department of Justice and the Las Vegas Raiders football team to fund these projects.

Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.

The district also outlined its plan to offer remote classes this year in response to parents’ concerns that their children do not feel comfortable returning to school in person.

Becky Reinhardt, the administrator for virtual learning, said there would not be a limit on the number of students who can be virtual, and that students could switch back to in-person learning whenever they wanted.

For their part, the school board members did not speak much about the massacre that killed 21 people in May. They did not answer when asked about the progress of fence-building at the other schools, the likelihood they would conduct their own investigation or the timing of Police Chief Pete Arredondo’s termination hearing, which has been delayed twice.

The board will meet next Monday to hear community grievances.

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(UVALDE, Texas) — Archbishop of San Antonio Gustavo García-Siller has been traveling to Uvalde, Texas, to “walk with the community” as it grapples with the horrific shooting this past May.

García-Siller spends time with the residents and leads Mass services for the community. For the past two and a half months, he has borne witness to the town’s “collective wound,” he said.

When faced with the magnitude of emotions that accompanies tragedy, words often fail, which is why he’s utilizing another way to make a connection with the children of Uvalde.

The archbishop said he has met with children from the community to encourage them, but when he tried to ask them to express their feelings, they had trouble, likely due to emotional distress. But when he used sign language for words such as “sad,” “happy,” or “peace,” they were receptive and responsive, helping him and their families understand what they were feeling, García-Siller told ABC News Correspondent John Quinones.

The archbishop said one of his first concerns was that children he met weren’t able to communicate their feelings verbally. “It’s hard for people to talk… to express a feeling,” he said. But after sensing fourth and fifth graders’ participation during a partially signed homily, he went home to brush up on his American Sign Language skills. What they could not previously communicate verbally, they were able to through hand motions.

The archbishop could gauge the children’s emotional states, and how they felt sad but desired to feel peace, he said. “It was a breakthrough. I felt so happy that I was able to connect with them,” said García-Siller, who has now integrated the practice into his work with children.

“Because the children trust me,” he said, when asked why he attended a local private school’s back-to-school student-teacher meet-and-greet Monday morning.

Meanwhile, the parents of victims have presented the church leader with deep questions regarding faith and forgiveness, he said. What surprised him was how many parents asked not about why God would take their children away, but rather, if God was with their little girls and boys. “They wanted to know that God was taking care of their child,” he said.

The archbishop described a community aching for trust. He said that while children often gain trust by “just sitting [at] the same table eating cookies,” the adults in Uvalde need “servant leaders” who will reestablish “mutual trust.” The archbishop also said he has a message for Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

“We don’t need to show power at this time. Power, at this time, and it will be for a while, diminishes people. We need you to accompany them. To walk with them,” he said. “If mistakes were made, walk with them to resolve them. Don’t bring all that power and all those arms and all that control.”

In the meantime, García-Siller plans to continue to do just that: walk with Uvalde.

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